William Howard Moser was born on June 29, 1906, in Alamance County, North Carolina. In August 1920, when he was just fourteen, Moser was called upon to provide testimony in an investigation into an attempted lynching in Alamance County. He was the son of Adolphus Washington Moser, who was at that time serving as jailer and chief of police for Graham, North Carolina. By profession, Moser was a merchant and rental property investor. He died in Burlington on February 10, 1956.